The XRCC1 Arg280His polymorphism contributes to cancer susceptibility: an update by meta-analysis of 53 individual studies.

The X-ray repair cross-complementing group 1 (XRCC1) protein plays a central role in DNA repair pathways. Epidemiological studies have revealed the association between XRCC1 Arg280His polymorphism and cancer risk, but the results were inconsistent. We conducted this meta-analysis to assess the effect of XRCC1 Arg280His polymorphism on cancer susceptibility with accumulated data. Up to January 2012, 53 case-control studies with 21,349 cases and 23,649 controls were available for our study. Summary odds ratios (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for XRCC1 Arg280His polymorphism and cancer were estimated using fixed- or random-effects models when appropriate. Our meta-analysis identified that elevated cancer risk was statistically associated with the minor variant His allele and Arg-His/His-His genotypes both in the overall population (allele comparison, His versus Arg: OR=1.16; 95% CI: 1.08-1.25; dominant comparison, Arg-His/His-His versus Arg-Arg: OR=1.17; 95% CI: 1.08-1.27) and in terms of subgroup analyses by ethnicity for both Caucasians and non-Caucasians. However, no significant result was observed in the stratified analysis by cancer type. Moreover, significantly increased cancer risk was observed in smokers. These findings indicated that XRCC1 Arg280His polymorphism may play a role in cancer development.